Visitors to the Zeiss Planetarium in Jena, Germany will be among the first to experience a 3D sound system devised at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology (IDMT).
Dubbed SpatialSound Wave and based on Wave Field Synthesis, the Fraunhofer sound solution creates a naturally immersive sound environment absorbing the audience into a world of musical-acoustic effects. The effect is particularly impressive in a domed theatre, as at the Planetarium, which also features a newly installed full-dome 900sqm Carl Zeiss AG Velvet projection system.
René Rodigast, responsible for the project at Fraunhofer IDMT, describes the advantages of this new 3D audio system: “Our SpatialSound Wave system could be easily integrated in the existing sound solutions of the planetarium. In order to do so, 60 loudspeakers that are controlled by our audio system have been integrated inside the dome, as well as horizontally around the audience. This way, sound sources – a speaker, FX sounds or musical effects – can be positioned freely in the dome theater and arranged as 3D audio shows.” Audio and video content between the SpatialSound Wave and the projection system is synchronised. The Carl Zeiss Velvet is described as the world’s only video projection system with an absolutely black backdrop based on the DLP technology of Texas Instruments.
